Poland at the crossroads?

Our Lucie Horáčková in her newest blog deals with the issue of the reforms enforced in Poland by the Law and Justice Party since 2015.

Since October 2015, when the Law and Justice party (PiS, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) seized power in Poland, many controversial reforms has been enforced, which has provoked international criticism expressed mainly by the EU. In spite of the radical steps beeing made by the government which disrupt the rule of law, public support of the party is still stable and as strong as ever. This is a topic elaborated by Lucie. 

The EU is still mentioning the possibility of triggering the Article 7 which has never been used so far. Nevertheless it would have to be approved by all EU-member states which does not seem realistic, since the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, expressed unbounded support for Poland several times. However, there is a fear of disunity among the EU-members as well, that could even worsen the unstable situation caused by Brexit.

We often hear that the reason for the reforms is to improve the efficiency of the state. However, the interventions in the media and education sphere should not be carried out under the pretext of greater efficicency. So far the undertaken steps give cause for concern, that the PiS is trying hard to maximize its control over the state. 

The full article is available here.

Lucie Horáčková
Intern